Air America Radio: Two Years and Going Strong
Air America Radio opened for business exactly two years ago with no more than six stations. Conservatives seemed to take unusual joy in predicting its demise. Here are a few of the comments I got to posts about AAR in the first year and two months on the air:
“As of July 16, 2004, the Arbitron shows that AA’s ratings are in the toilet where they belong. No doubt soon they will be silenced by commercial force majeure.” –July 17, 2004“So much for the whiney liberal network.” –January 12, 2005
“RIP Air America.” –April 22, 2005
“AAR only has 52 stations.” –April 29, 2005
“AIR AMERICA RATINGS ARE SINKING.” –May 21, 2005
I love that second to last one, considering that AAR started with 6 stations, and a year later, had “only” 52. Today, AAR has 85 stations nationwide and can be heard on XM Satellite Radio as well. Not bad after two years’ work for a network that started from scratch and had lots of initial financial troubles–and far from the ratings failure that conservatives tried to paint.
The usual false argument from the wingnuts relies on flat ratings published by Arbitron–total viewers as opposed to demographics. Demographics are what really determine success. When Star Trek first came out, NBC tried to kill it repeatedly because its overall ratings were a flop. Demographics were still new then, and the network learned too late that among target audiences, Trek was a big hit. The same mistake was aired repeatedly by conservatives trying to wish AAR out of existence–they would point to overall ratings, and only occasionally refer to demographics when they found an isolated tidbit somewhere that fit their argument.
Unfortunately, the demographic rundowns are for paying subscribers only, and are complex at that, so I can’t reel them off for you. Nevertheless, AAR’s success is self-evident; you don’t go from 6 to 85 stations in just two years if your ratings are truly in the toilet. More proof can also be found in the average ages of the audiences. Franken’s audience is 45 years old on average, whereas Rush Limbaugh’s is 67–far outside the “golden” demographic that advertisers cherish most.
So, after two years, Air America is still going strong. Happy Birthday.
Actually I am listening to Al Franken as I write this, God bless him.
Unfortunately in St. Louis, we don’t get the full blown thing, Al Franken is broadcasted an hour late, and the rest of the day that same station switches over to conservative ideologues. So we don’t get Randi Rhodes, who is a potent force against the idiotologist.
But, it is progress.
You make a good point – most of the people that I know that listen to Rush Limbaugh are retirees still fighting the Korean War, Engineers, Donald Trump wannabees and working class idiots/religious wingnuts more concerned about gay marriage than the outsourcing of their jobs.
Seems to me that what’s left over for Air America is nice juicing segment. And as the Republicans start running out of credibility some of those engineers and working class idiots will start to wise up. Not easy as they have been enthrawed and emotionally invested with the Thugian party. But when they take time to listen to AA they will cognitize some of the discrepencies in thugian policy and politics. At some point, and increasingly it seems more open, they will switch over.
We have an Air America station in Seattle (big shock, I know). I listen to Franken on occasion, but I’ll be honest- I can’t really listen to many of the other hosts. I mean, I despise Bush and what his cronies are doing to America, but some of the jocks are just way too over the top for me.
But I recognize they’re just doing the liberal/progressive version of the wingnuts on the conservative side, so I suppose they serve a purpose for us.
I’ll say one thing- if I ever get surveyed for radio listening, I’m saying that I have Air America on 8 or 10 hours a day. And as a 37 year old guy, that’s prime demographic, baby.
Paul
Seattle, WA
Oh, me too. I wish Air America was better than it is. The original line-up was much stronger than it is now. Even though she sometimes goes overboard, Randi Rhodes is the only one who’s consistently good. Which kind of makes sense, because if I’m not mistaken she’s the only one who’s a veteran radio personality. Most of the others are not, and I think that makes all the difference.
I used to like Al Franken, but he really, REALLY needs a co-host again. Anyway, how much longer until he quits the show and runs for congress?
It would be nice if Air America wasn’t the “don’t talk about Israel” station. Only Sam Seder is willing to critique Israel where as Franklin and Rhodes refuse to say much of anything at all. Of course if they did, they would only show their hypocracy and double standards. Franklin has defended Israel many times for things that are wrong when the US does them. All because “Israel is the only democracy in the middle east”! Which it is not, of course.
There really is no substance to any of the programs on Air America, unless you like the highly predictable “Bush’s fault” rantings. I have attempted to listen for a counter balance view to other talk radio but only find that there are no ideas, no insight, no discussion, and no real relevance to the topics on the shows. Talk about something that matters like the situation in Iran or how multiculturalism is smothering the United States. I appreciate intellectual conversation and an openness to debate the different viewpoints. Dennis Prager exhibits such interactions in his show. Rush is just an entertainer trying to rub the left the wrong way. Air America seems to focus on Rush and has tried to parlay their shows to his format (ie Ed Schultz-a fellow alumni). Even taking ideas from his “playbook”. The fact is that if it wasn’t for the DFL funding Air America and its writers, it wouldn’t have lasted this long. So your thanks should be directed to them.